Chirps from Center Ice

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Let’s just get what they casuals love out of the way first.

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I am not a big analytic guy, but that post has over 24,000 views. Give the people what they want!

The casuals loved it.

The rest of us sickos loves this 3-1 Penguins win over the Springfield Thunderbirds. Like two ships passing in the night going different directions, the Penguins started on time Saturday night (unlike Friday) and teed off on last place Springfield to a tune of a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Bolstered by the Boko Imama / Kale Kessy heavyweight fight, in addition to Imama scoring a tip in front in the first, the Penguins were off to the races.

Gotta hand it to Kale Kessy. The guy is overmatched in height and weight but not heart. The man stands in there and takes on the toughest opponents all the time.

Anyway, here’s how they lined up.

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Lineup Notes: Oh yeah, burying the lede here, Joel Blomqvist and Rutger McGroarty were activated off of injured reserve and in the lineup. Other changes include Scooter Brickey for Sebastian Aho on defense, McGroarty and Raivis Ansons for Matty De St. Phalle and Gabe Klassen.

First Period: Kind of gave it away in the open, relentless pressure by the Penguins to start, Raivis Ansons slams one home at 2:20 after the Pensuins hemmed in Springfield for an extended amount of time to make it 1-0…

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See above for what happened next. It is rare anymore to see two dudes fight anymore and even rarer to see two dudes who actually know how to fight as well.

Here’s Boko’s tip in in front.

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Second Period: They let off or something seemed off. Again, you can get away with it I think against teams like Springfield and Bridgeport. I don’t know you about Hershey and definitely not Providence.

This despite Rutger McGroarty scoring just 66 seconds into the period.

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Aaron Huglen took a puck off the chops off an errant dump in by Phil Kemp and didn’t return.

Hugh McGing scored off the rush on a power play for Springfield late to break up any faint thoughts of a Blomqvist shutout bid.

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Third Period: Springfield played a better period but didn’t score despite lots of pressure, where they outshot the Penguins 12-4. Good defense by the Penguins and better goaltending by Joel Blomqvist keeps the Thunderbirds off the scoresheet.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Blomqvist (23 saves) 2) Rutger McGroarty (goal) 1) Boko Imama (goal, fight)

The Good: They are beating teams they should beat and amassing points.

The Bad: Sometimes the way they play teams they are beating isn’t good and I am concerned that when they play a better team they may not have as much success. Last week against Rochester comes to mind.

The Bad, Redux: They have one power play goal in the last 23 tries I thought I heard Nick Hart mention postgame. That isn’t good!

Turning Point: Pens had a kill around the five minute mark of the third period with Springfield pressuring and got the kill from there. If the Thunderbirds scored, I am not so sure the outcome would have been the same.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Iowa 2-0…Providence beats Utica 3-2 in overtime….Laval beats Hartford 5-2…Rochester beats Bridgeport 5-3…Hershey beats Lehigh Valley with :13 left off a Ryan Strome goal and the Bears win 4-3.

Standings: Penguins 25 – Providence 24 – Lehigh Valley 19 – Charlotte and Hershey 17 – Bridgeport 12 – Hartford 10 – Springfield 6

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat the Maine Mariners 4-1. Mike Posma with two more goals against Maine. Long live the Portland Pirates.

Video Highlights: Not up yet, if I see them later I may edit them in, if not, AHL VideoCenter will have them for you.

They are off till next Friday which is nice because it gives you a break from the weekday games. Have a great week and we will talk next week for the Weekend Preview.

Let’s Go Pens!

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They looked lost for two periods, completely on an island (no pun intended) and in a 2-0 hole to start the third period.

Then the magic happened.

A five goal third period aided by defenseman Phil Kemp lifts the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins to a 5-3 win over the Bridgeport Islanders Friday night.

Kemp had a pair of goals and an assist in the win.

Here’s how they lined up with Bridgeport not posting a lineup graphic.

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Lineup Notes: There were none. They went with the same pairings and lines from Wednesday in Bridgeport. Of note, Daniel Laatsch joined Avery Hayes and Taylor Gauthier on the injured list.

First Period: They didn’t start on time.

Normally when you start your fourth line it provides a spark that sets the tone for the rest of the game.

The opposite happened. A penalty in the first minute of the game.

Cam Berg sweeps in a puck in the crease with Maxim Pavlenko facing the opposite direction and the Islanders were off to a 1-0 lead.

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Pathetic first period of hockey. They were disjointed and not crisp at all.

Second Period: It started to click a bit with some early pressure but an Alex Jeffries shot is blocked but caroms right back to him for a 2-0 Islanders lead.

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This was after the Penguins had back to back power play tries in an attempt to shift momentum to their side.

Third Period: Comeback on.

A Phil Kemp put on Parker Gahagen is stopped by the Islander goaltender but right to Tristan Broz who cleans up the mess and puts the Penguins on the board.

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Sebastian Aho scores his first goal as a Penguin through a screen I thought and ties the game at two.

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Head Coach Rocky Thompson calls time out to trying to and settle his troops. It worked, in part, because Andrej Šustr puts a pass on a zipline to Adam Beckman for a goal that re-establishes Bridgeport’s lead.

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I didn’t think Owen Pickering had his best game. He wasn’t on the ice there for the Beckman goal but I didn’t like his game at all Friday.

Aiden McDonough to the rescue ties the game.

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Then Phil Kemp got into the party with a goal here that puts the Penguins in front.

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Bridgeport pulls Gahagen in an attempt to tie the game back up, it didn’t work.

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Wow.

They looked like ass for forty minutes, seemingly flip a switch and explode for five goals.

Living on the edge, but you take them anyway you can get them.

Three Stars: 3) Sebastian Aho (goal, assist) 2) Tristan Broz (goal, assist) 1) Phil Kemp (two goals, assist)

The Good: To reiterate, they looked lost to start the game, explode for five like nothing in the third and win the game.

The Bad: How do you come back from this if you are Bridgeport? What a way to lose.

Turning Point: The McDonough goal to tie it up gets it here. It seems weird, but there’s no coming back from that if you are the Islanders because the Penguins kept picking themselves off the mat.

Around the Division: Charlotte ekes by Iowa in Des Moines 4-3…Hartford loses in OT to Rochester 4-3…Hershey takes out North Division leading Syracuse 2-1 and Lehigh Valley pounds Springfield 7-3. Providence was off.

Standings: Penguins 23 – Providence 22 – Lehigh Valley 19 – Herhsey and Charlotte 15 – Bridgeport 12 – Hartford 10 – Springfield 6

Wheeling Update: Good night for the Nailers who pound the Maine Mariners 5-1. Mike Posma had a pair of goals and an assist.

Video Highlights: 

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More tomorrow after Springfield is in for a 6 p.m. start.

Let’s Go Pens!

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A back and forth affair on Wednesday morning saw the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins outdo the Bridgeport Islanders 5-4 in a shootout in front of 8,577 people, most of them school aged children.

The kids got their monies worth as it was a see-saw affair that went to the very end.

Here’s how the Penguins lined up. The Islanders didn’t post lines:

Lineup Notes: So as I suspected, Filip Larsson was recalled to Pittsburgh to serve as the third goalie while the team is in Sweden for the weekend. No official recall was made.

As the graphic above indicated, Sebastian Aho made his return from injury. No other changes to the forward lines. Daniel Laatsch sat for Aho.

First Period: Islanders score on the first shot of the game at 1:16 as Cole McWard scored through a moving screen to give Bridgeport an early lead.

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Sam Poulin loves playing against the Islanders as he is their kryptonite. He scored his first of two in the morning with this rebound shot that tied the game for the Penguins.

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But then the Islanders would strike right back as an Adam Beckman shot found its way in when thePenguins failed to clear the zone.

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Wilkes-Barre put on a full court press and got themselves a goal late when Aaron Huglen scored his first AHL goal that tied it at two.

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Second Period: Both teams started on time with four goals but the second period saw no scoring. The most interesting thing that happened was Chase Pietila called for a roughing penalty where he removed his opponents helmet in a pushing and shoving match. Apparently, you can’t do that anymore.

Third Period: Alex Alexeyev had his second chance effort land in the net for a goal :39 into the period to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

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I didn’t like Bridgeport’s counterpunching in the game Because they answered right back to tie the game at three with this seemingly harmless shot that went in off the stick of Isiah George.

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Full disclosure, I have never stopped a hockey puck in my life, much less in a competitive game, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Sam Poulin would get his second of the contest with just over three minutes left to play in regulation and you thought that this would be enough to win the game…

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Well, you thought wrong.

With Marcus Högberg pulled for an extra attacker, Joey Larson would tip a shot past Pavlenko that would even the game at four a piece with :38 left.

(just trust me here as there is no GIF of the goal)

That meant detention for the kids in attendance the game went to…

Overtime: Solved nothing. Possession by both sides but both goaltenders were up to the challenges faced.

Shootout: Sam Poulin, Aaron Huglen, Valtteri Puustinen and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard scored, but Alex Jeffries in the bottom of the fifth couldn’t and the Pens skated away with the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Sam Poulin (two goals) 2) Isiah George (goal, assist) 1) Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (shootout game winning goal)

The Good: They started on time and battled a scrappy team at an odd hour of the day and came away with two points.

The Bad: Seems like they are a step ahead of this Bridgeport team after seeing them four times so far this season but for some reason the Islanders always stay step for step and give them headaches. There are a lot of teams out there that are better than Bridgeport currently that play the Penguins.

Turning Point: The shootout goal from Harvey-Pinard gets it here I suppose.

Around the Division: A lot of games early today surprisingly. Springfield bests Laval 3-1 in the other game in the division this early Wednesday afternoon. Providence hosts Hartford later this evening.

Standings: The Penguins will go a point clear of Providence 21-20, but the P-Bruins have a chance to do something about that later Wednesday evening.

Wheeling Update: Surprisingly a lot of ECHL games going on Wednesday afternoon also, none involving the Nailers though who host Maine on Friday.

Video Highlights: VideoCenter will have them up soon I suppose.

These two teams rematch Friday at the more conventional time of 7:05 p.m. in Wilkes-Barre.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Maxim Pavlenko’s AHL career is off to a good start.

First AHL start? First AHL Shutout as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Utica Comets 4-0 in a methodical takedown. They needed a get right game after this troubling week and last place Utica was just what the doctor ordered.

Aaron Huglen with his first points of his AHL career, Sam Poulin stayed hot and Valtteri Puustinen returned from injury, so it was a great night at the office.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Gabe Klassen and Sccoter Brickey yielded for Puustinen and Finn Harding.

First Period: Penguins would score on their only power play opportunity of the game when Atley Calvert scored from a familiar spot that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Penguins made short work of two Utica power plays in the period.

Second Period: Mathieu De St. Phalle cleaned up a rebound that made it 2-0 and then a pass intended for Sam Poulin was blocked partially, but Poulin stayed on it then shot it and tripled the lead for Wilkes-Barre.

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The dreaded 3-0 Penguins lead! Oh no!

Third Period: Had the sense that if the lead would hold, you would know in the first five minutes.

Well the five minutes came and went and they remained disciplined, taking no penalties in the period and then with time running out Jakub Málek vacated his crease and then Tristan Broz made sure everyone would get free coffee at Abide Coffee Shop with the fourth Penguin goal of the night.

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Three Stars: 3) Aaron Huglen (two assists) 2) Sam Poulin goal, assist) 1) Maxim Pavlenko (20 save shutout)

The Good: Wish they were all this easy. Pens put on a clinic and made it easy for their third or fourth string goalie. Utica never really threatened and the shutout seemed inevitable.

The Bad: You don’t get to complain when your team gets a shutout.

Turning Point: Let’s give it to Poulin and the third goal, he stayed on the puck and by default got himself open, took the shot and it went in. Just a perfect sequence of events.

Around the Division: Providence wins in overtime out in Cleveland 3-2 and will stay a point ahead of the Penguins. All things considered the Penguins are still in pretty good shape when it comes to all the injuries and the division lead….Charlotte beats Syracuse 3-2….Bridgeport pounds Springfield 6-1….The rest of the games are still going on when I hit publish on this thing. Boxes on Toronto / Lehigh Valley here and Hartford / Belleville here. Hershey was off.

Standings: Providence is on 20 points and the Penguins are on 19. Here’s that page if you want to check out the rest of the standings after the later games go final.

Wheeling Update: Nailers are looking for the three game sweep in Greensboro, North Carolina against the Gargoyles. Box on that one here.

Video Highlights: 

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Oh dear, the Pens play a 10:30 a.m. game Wednesday in Bridgeport. I think I am calling in sick from work that day!

Maybe not, but I should still have something for you on that game here.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins haven’t won in Rochester since 2017.

After the first period, where the Penguins. fell in a 4-1 hole, Wilkes-Barre claws out of that hole to tie the game in the third period.

But a Zach Metsa power play goal with about 8 minutes left to play in the game put the Pens back in that hole and this time they couldn’t get out of it as Rochester bags an empty netter and Wilkes-Barre falls 6-4 Friday night.

If you’re wondering about the headline, I’m a Mets fan if you didn’t know and well, suffice to say, I am used to being disappointed.

No time to wallow in their sorrows as they will need to bus home for a 6:05 start against the Utica Comets.

Here’s how they lined up, Rochester didn’t post lines but dressed seven defensemen.

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Lineup Notes: Scooter Brickey for Finn Harding was the only lineup change. The forward lines were the same from Wednesday. Why they took Finn Harding, who had two assists Wednesday, out for Scooter Brickey remained to be seen.

Valtteri Puustinen and Avery Hayes are day to day with upper body injuries and Taylor Gauthier and Sebastian Aho are week to week with lower body injuries.

First Period: Penguins largely controlled the first 15 minutes of play, even had :40 of a two man advantage but failed to score. They owned an 8-2 advantage and then the bottom fell out.

Trevor Kuntar scored a bang-bang goal that put the Amerks on the board first.

:35 later, Mathieu De St. Phalle stripped Vsevolod Komarov of the puck and scored to tie the game.

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Then the Americans explode for a trio of goals in about three minutes and fifteen seconds of game time when Jake Leschyshyn scored a power play goal with :04 left in it to make it 2-1, Matteo Costantini scored his first AHL goal in his first AHL game that made it 3-1 and then Trevor Kuntar muscled one past Larsson who thought he had the post sealed off that made it 4-1.

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That right there is how you effectively use Twitter.

Second Period: Maxim Pavlenko replaced Filip Larsson in goal and lit a fire under his team.

If anyone came into his crease, he would jab them and give them a faceful of blocker. This seemed to fire up his team who scores two goals in the period to cut it to one.

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Alex Alexeyev from the point made it 4-2.

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Referee Adam Tobias got a little penalty happy in the period and this infuriated Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who was on the wrong end of Tobias’ decisions. In addition to the two minute minor, Tobias added a ten minute misconduct.

Selfish by Harvey-Pinard there who in my opinion needs to know better as a veteran and a guy they may lean on more to score goals with half the offense either hurt or on recall.

Tristan Broz scored a goal from an impossible angle to cut the deficit to one.

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Broz put the team on his back, also assisting on the Alexeyev goal.

Third Period: Penalty marred third period put a capstone on a penalty marred period, and with Sam Poulin sprung from the penalty box he would score to tie the game at four a piece.

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But the parading to the box continued and this time the Penguins couldn’t hold off the Rochester power play when the Americans scored off the Metsa power play goal here:

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A puck hopped the stick of Sam Poulin and Viktor Neuchev scored into the empty net to ice the game away.

Three Stars: 3) Konsta Helenius (two assists) 2) Matteo Costantini (goal) 1) Trevor Kuntar (two goals)

The Good: Battled back to tie the game after a disastrous final five minutes of the first period. They may have a cult hero brewing in Pavleko.

The Bad: Still haven’t scored a power play goal in a few games, offense looks lost and disjointed as does the defense.

Turning Point: When Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga went down with his hamstring injury after covering first base back in June, the Mets season went to hell from there.

Oh sorry, still have Mets on the brain and really like this pun headline despite the result for the Pens…it’s the Metsa power play goal. I’m just having fun.

Around the Division: Laval beats Hartford 4-2…Providence beats Cleveland 2-1…Charlotte beats Syracuse 4-1…Toronto beats Hershey 5-2 and Bridgeport beats Springfield 6-2. Lehigh Valley had Friday off.

Standings: Providence 18 – Penguins 17 – Lehigh Valley 15 – Charlotte and Hershey 11 – Bridgeport 9 – Hartford 8 – Springfield 4

Wheeling Update: Nailers win a shootout down in Greensboro 3-2. Logan Pietila with the lone goal in the shootout.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is your best bet.

More Saturday after Utica stops by.

Let’s Go Mets Pens!

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Just like their NHL counterparts on Monday, against the same Toronto franchise, a Penguin team had a 3-0 lead heading into the third period and did not win that game.

This time though, the AHL affiliate scraped out a point but lost 4-3 in overtime.

Overtime seemed like a microcosm of how the game went.

Penguins had most of the possession time in the period only to have Toronto end it with a quick rush up ice and a Travis Boyd overtime goal that ended it for the Marlies.

Travis Boyd and overtime are a bad elixir when it comes to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Game 7. Overtime. Hershey. Anyone remember that?

Anyway Kirk MacDonald saw the writing on the wall 3:31 into the third period where he used his time out.

The Penguins had just been scored on when Borya Valis scored at 1:57 to make it 3-1. There was something that MacDonald didn’t like and he let the team know about it.

The message didn’t get through, because the Penguins mustered just four shots to Toronto’s ten and two of those ten went in.

Logan Shaw breaking in the zone to snipe one over the glove of Filip Larsson to make it 3-2 and then Bo Groulx on a backhander that beat him that tied the game.

Wilkes-Barre somehow managed to get the game to overtime to secure a point, held possession for stretches but it was Travis Boyd’s shot that put the capstone on what really was a great effort by the Marlies, who never said die and came back and won the game.

Also, Marlies Artur Akhtyamov deserved credit too. The first shot of the game he sees at :16 off the stick of Trisan Broz goes in, later in the second period Atley Calvert crashed the net and followed a rebound for a goal and then Boko Imama of all people has a shot deflect off of a Marlie in front that made it 3-0.

Akhtyamov also made this save on Rafaël Harvey-Pinard to preserve the 3-3 deadlock in overtime.

https://twittter.com/TorontoMarlies/status/1986261056256159891

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Here’s the rest of the goals in order of which they were scored.

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They practice Thursday before boarding a bus for Rochester later that day. If I am MacDonald I have some of them start walking now.

Too much standing around and too much cycling of the puck waiting for the perfect shot, especially in overtime. They were world beaters, smothering Toronto 12-5 in shots in the first. The Marlies tried to counterpunch in the second but only went down two more goals. They managed just seven shots (four in the third, three in overtime) after and see a team get one over on them that had no business doing so.

An 8-1, 8-2 record is great and yeah the points count all the same, but you can’t rest on what got you that record for the rest of the season. They are facing adversity now for the first time all season with a lot of guys up and now Avery Hayes hurt, so role guys and tweeners need to step up and step in or get stepped on and shipped out.

For posterity (it’s late and I have work in the morning) here’s how they both lined up:

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Sucks that Marc Johnstone was injured and couldn’t play. Other lineup notes were no Danton Heinen, Ryan Graves or Sergei Murashov (recall) Alex Gallant and Gabe Klassen for Heinen and Avery Hayes, who mentioned earlier was injured (upper, day to day). Owen Pickering back in on defense with Finn Harding also. Harding had a fine game with two assists. No Scooter Brickey, Valtteri Puustinen, Sebastian Aho or Taylor Gauthier due to injury.

They better figure bleep out and quick because Rochester is a hell of a lot better then Toronto is structurally.

Out the door, Wilkes-Barre leads the division by one over Providence. Lehigh Valley beat Bridgeport in the division’s only other action 6-2.

Highlights, because the front office works hard on them and I appreciate them doing so on a work night for them as well, and we will talk Friday.

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Let’s Go Pens!